


Love Requires Sacrifice

by inks0up (krikkit_war_robot)



Series: Return to the Studio [3]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Gen, Salvation, great job joey u broke everyone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-17
Updated: 2018-02-17
Packaged: 2020-08-10 18:54:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20140324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/krikkit_war_robot/pseuds/inks0up
Summary: Henry is determined to break the curse that has befallen Joey Drew Studios, no matter the cost.





	1. Chapter 1

Joey Drew Studios had come to feel more and more like home to Henry over the months he’d been there. It was not the safest of places to be, but, with the two greatest dangers - Bendy and Alice - no longer a threat, it felt much safer than it had initially. Bendy had never been a threat in the first place; after Henry had realized that, they had become quite close. Even Boris had gradually warmed up to him and ceased to be afraid. Alice had stopped forcing Henry to endanger himself; while she still made demands of him from time to time, he was under no obligation to obey anymore. She had become too afraid of Bendy’s intervention to resort to using threats; threatening either Henry or Boris was guaranteed to provoke Bendy to find and attack her.

Henry’s priorities used to be survival and escape. For the first couple months, nothing else had seemed important to him. All that had mattered was getting out of there in one piece, and the old building and everyone inside of it had seemed to be against him.

Now, though, that had changed. Survival seemed almost trivial by this point. He rarely found himself in dangerous situations where he feared for his life anymore. The searchers and the Butcher Gang didn’t pose a significant threat, and the building hadn’t caved in yet. He had little doubt he was going to survive this place.

Escape seemed less and less important as time went on, as well. Henry couldn’t deny that he did feel homesick at times. He did miss his family and friends. He still had his moments now and then when he wanted nothing more than to find a way out and return home.

But... this studio had become his home, in a sense. He’d been living here for quite some time - it must have been half a year by now, at least - with Boris and Bendy. He’d formed a special attachment to the two cartoons over the course of this time. They were his own creations - his own children, practically - and he cared for them greatly. Parting with them, if that day ever came, was going to be painful.

Having been confined to the forgotten studio for so long, it had become easy to forget just how unnatural this all was. Living ink had come to seem normal. Henry had once been acutely aware that he was the only human there, but he didn’t feel so different from the others anymore. Sammy Lawrence was, as far as Henry was concerned, still more or less human. He’d seemed to be nothing but an ink monster and a madman at first, then someone mostly harmless but bizarre and strange, but time spent reminiscing about the “good old days” and catching up on the years since had changed how Henry saw him. He was Sammy Lawrence, all right. He’d gone a little insane, but he was still his old friend Sammy.

Bendy and Boris were far less human-like both in appearance and behavior, not to mention they couldn’t speak (though Bendy occasionally communicated through writing), but even they weren’t too different from Henry. They had human intelligence and their own unique and bright personalities. They’d become good companions and friends. They kept one another company. Henry could rely on them, and they could rely on him. It didn’t matter to him that one was a demon and the other was a wolf, or that they were made entirely of ink. Henry saw them as family nonetheless.

Yet none of this was natural, despite how normal it had come to seem, and none of it was supposed to be this way. Whatever dark magic had caused all this had to be undone. Henry had avoided inquiring into what had caused the disaster that befell the studio, feeling there was some terrible truth he’d rather not know, but he was sure there was dark magic involved. There were supernatural forces at work here; ink couldn’t be brought to life by natural means, after all. The pentagrams, the spellbooks, the talk of rituals... it all pointed to some kind of occult practice.

But who had done this, and why? Had it been Sammy? He longed to return to his human form and regain his freedom. He did also seem to miss Susie - the old Susie Campbell, not Alice Angel, as she’d since become. He seemed to be the most likely culprit for anything involving dark magic, but why would he choose to inflict this on himself and on Susie?

The conclusion Henry had reached was one which showed this magic to be far too dangerous and unpredictable to even consider using: whatever had happened, whatever had corrupted the former workers physically and mentally, whatever had brought cartoon characters to life as living but deformed creatures, whatever had caused blobs of ink to spontaneously animate and attack passers-by - this was all the result of some terrible, tragic accident. Sammy, or whoever was responsible for this, could not have intended for this to happen. It just didn’t make sense. The state of the studio and its inhabitants couldn’t possibly be anything but the unforeseen consequences of a horrific mistake.

Henry didn’t know a thing about dark magic or how to undo its effects, and Bendy’s proposed solution would rely on the same occult forces that caused this mess. Henry wasn’t willing to entertain that idea. That would be fighting fire with fire. Whoever had caused this had presumably thought they knew what they were doing, and they’d unleashed disaster by mistake. Henry was completely clueless when it came to how to work this magic; even with the assistance of a spellbook, accidental catastrophe had to be almost inevitable.

But something had to be done. There had to be some solution, some way to fix everything. Perhaps it was time to find some answers. An explanation of what exactly had happened here, as much as Henry dreaded the thought of finding out, might just provide a start to figuring out how to safely revert what had been done.

For everyone’s sake, he needed answers, and he knew just who to ask.

~

“Thirty years ago, what happened here?”

“Thirty years ago... when was that...?”

“1939. What happened after I quit?”

“There was nothing significant I can remember... but I may be forgetting.”

Henry knew Sammy was quite forgetful when it came to details of his human life. Details frequently eluded him, but completely forgetting such a disastrous and life-changing event was not something Henry had counted on.

“No, I remember now,” said Sammy. “The next cartoon that aired after you left, that was the first color cartoon we made, I think.”

“I know,” Henry responded. Not only had he seen it when it aired, he’d even worked on it himself. He never did any color animation while working for Joey - even though rival studios had been using color for years by then - but he had sketched the animatic for that episode. “I’m not asking about that.”

“That episode was a disaster,” Sammy continued, paying no attention to Henry’s comment. “Joey didn’t give us nearly enough time to work on it. The music was an afterthought to him. He would go on about how great it was that we were finally making color cartoons, that it was a big milestone. Everyone was going to love it, he would say. He was so fixated on the color, he forgot about the music. Of course, I wasn’t about to start composing the score before he’d decided what kind of music he wanted. You know how Joey was. If it was any different from how he’d imagined it, he’d make me scrap it and start all over again.” Sammy sounded progressively more annoyed as he recalled the story. Henry couldn’t blame him for it; Joey’s strict and unrealistic expectations had caused him a lot of frustration as well for the better part of that decade. The pressure of working for someone so demanding was what led him to finally quit.

Now was not the time for complaining about past frustrations, however. Henry had come to Sammy to discuss something far more important.

“Sammy,” he interrupted, trying to get him back on topic. Sammy, again, didn’t seem to notice Henry had spoken to him.

“After he finally made up his mind, he wouldn’t extend the deadline. He gave us one week. He was so proud of the animation for that stupid cartoon that he didn’t care about the music. He only wanted to air the episode as soon as possible. The composition was rushed, and the orchestra didn’t have enough rehearsals. The end result was awful... Joey said it was ‘good enough’. Joey never said anything was ‘good enough’. It only showed how unimportant it was to him. What a disgrace.”

“Sammy, there’s a reason I came to see you,” Henry said, making another attempt to get the information he was looking for. “There were four more episodes after that, then the studio suddenly closed. Why?”

“Why did this place close...?” Sammy paused for awhile to think. “I’m sorry, Henry. I can’t remember.”

Time for a more direct approach.

“You’re made of ink.”

“You’ve noticed?” To be honest, it was pretty impossible to miss.

“So is everyone else. How did this happen?”

“How...” He trailed off and stopped again for a moment in thought. “It was... I don’t remember.”

Had he seriously forgotten what happened? Sammy knew he used to be human. He still remembered being human. Even with his spotty memory, he should be able to remember at least vaguely what he had done that turned him and others to ink.

“I was human, once upon a time... I think I was- no, I know I was. Yes, I used to be human, but now... ink. Cold, dark, black ink... what happened?”

At this rate, Henry was going to run out of patience soon. Hearing Sammy ramble on about irrelevant anecdotes and waffle about to himself as he failed to remember things which were actually important... Henry was a patient man, but this really was testing him.

“I was human, and Susie... I couldn’t save her.”

Finally, there was some information!

“From what?” Henry didn’t want to go digging into bad memories, but it was necessary in order to get to the bottom of this bizarre mystery.

“Not ‘what’, ‘who’. Someone did this to her... to us... who was it?” He paused, then directed his speaking to Henry once more to explain what he could. “Joey. Yes, Joey did this. He was the one who turned us into these... these _monsters_.”

Now _that_ was a shock. Joey had done this? That... that couldn’t be true. Joey would never do something like this, even by accident! Messing with dark magic? Joey knew better, he had to!

“You’re kidding me,” said Henry. He desperately wanted to believe this wasn’t true. Sure, he hadn’t heard from Joey for 30 years, but Joey had once been one of his best friends. To think that his old friend could have done something so terrible... Henry was in shock. He didn’t want to believe it.

“Do I look like I’m kidding?”

With that mask, yes. But he didn’t sound like he was kidding.

“...Henry?”

“Huh?”

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah. I’m fine,” he lied. Wondering about Joey wasn’t going to do any good. Henry had to stay focused on finding a way to undo what had been done. Who had done this and why shouldn’t be important right now. “Is there a way to fix all this?”

What a dumb question. Sammy wasn’t the one who caused this; he probably didn’t know anything more about fixing it than Henry did!

“I’m sorry, that was-”

“There is one way,” Sammy interjected. “Do you remember the time I offered you as a sacrifice to my lord?”

“I don’t like where this is going.”

“I’m not going to sacrifice you, Henry. I wouldn’t harm a friend.”

That was a relief, at least, but Henry was still sure that whatever Sammy had in mind couldn’t be good.

“But a sacrifice is required. Someone must-” Sammy abandoned that thought mid-sentence. He walked a short distance away to draw a pentagram on the floor. Was he preparing for the sacrifice ritual? This couldn’t end well...

“Hear me, Bendy, and arise!”

At least he wasn’t going to try to sacrifice anyone... right?

Henry watched the scene in front of him in awe and slight terror. As Sammy’s zealous shouting continued, a small pool of ink formed spontaneously in the center of the pentagram. It grew larger and larger as Sammy became louder and more fanatical. It grew until it reached the outer circle of the pentagram. Bendy climbed out from the ink. He looked at Sammy and pulled off his mask, making his crazed ‘prophet’ immediately quiet down.

Henry was amazed and rather unsettled by what he had just witnessed. He was used to Bendy appearing practically out of nowhere, but he hadn’t seen such disturbingly fanatical behavior from Sammy since, well, the attempted sacrifice incident. He felt much, much more comfortable around him when he was acting relatively normal, not when he was like this.

“I apologize, my lord. Have I disturbed you?”

Instead of responding to Sammy, Bendy looked toward Henry and held the mask up in front of his face. Even after all that Henry had just seen and heard, he did find this action to be a bit amusing. He looked rather silly with his ‘normal’ cartoon face paired with his tall and misshapen body.

Seeing that he’d gotten a smile out of Henry, Bendy continued his silly antics. He removed one of his gloves and used his hand to smear ink over the eyes of the mask so that it resembled his actual appearance. He placed it back over Sammy’s face. Sammy brought his hand up to touch the now-painted-over eyes of his mask.

“I can’t see... but thank you, my lord, for your gracious blessing.”

“Sammy, you don’t have to-”

“I must!” exclaimed Sammy, cutting Henry off before he could finish. “It is an honor that my lord has chosen for me to resemble him! I wear this mask as a sign of my devotion to him. Now he has blessed it with his mark. It pleases him that I bear his likeness. I must wear this mask to honor him at all times, even if it means being blind.”

‘What the hell?’ would have been a perfectly acceptable response, but such a comment was likely to either offend him, spur further pseudo-religious nonsense, or both. Henry simply made a mental note not to question him or suggest acting less weird around Bendy. The less of this delusional behavior he had to witness, the better.

Bendy, however, was laughing, although he could only do so silently. If Sammy had taken off his mask, he would’ve seen that the demon was clearly very amused by his ridiculous interpretation of a simple joke.

“Bendy, my lord, if it doesn’t bother you... there is a reason I called you here. Henry has come to me for assistance breaking the curse Joey placed on us, but we have no one to sacrifice.”

“ALICE” Bendy wrote on the wall.

“Bendy, no,” said Henry, fearing that Sammy would take such jokes seriously if he saw. “This isn’t funny. No one’s going to be sacrificed.”

“How dare you talk back to my lord! If he demands sacrifice, then a sacrifice must be made!”

Bendy pointed to Sammy.

“We can’t sacrifice Sammy, either,” Henry told him.

“If it is his wish, I will gladly offer myself as sacrifice to him.”

“Both of you, no,” said Henry. He didn’t want to be in the position of having to tell them what to do, but someone had to be responsible here. Bendy pointed to Henry now.

“Stop it,” he said, more sternly this time. “You’re acting like a child. I’m sorry for ruining your fun, but-” He was cut off by a sudden punch to the gut which left him momentarily winded. Sammy was shockingly accurate for someone who couldn’t see. And that _hurt_.

“Ugh... what the hell?”

“My lord will _not_ take orders from you.”

That was it. Time to leave.


	2. Chapter 2

That evening, Henry wondered what options he had to save everyone, if any. Hopefully there was something he could do. There had to be some way to fix this, right?

Bendy was sleepily snuggled up to him on his lap, seemingly unaware of his own size.

“I still want to help you, Bendy,” he said. “But I have to find another way. Sacrificing someone... we can’t do that.” He was trying to avoid confronting what he knew to be the unfortunate truth: there was no other way. Sammy had confirmed that Joey had placed a curse over the studio, and It wasn’t likely it could be broken through any non-magical means.

“Boris, got any ideas?” The wolf shook his head. “Do you want a way out of this?” Boris nodded. Even though he wasn’t deformed like the others, Henry could understand why. The studio, in its present state, wasn’t an ideal place to live. It was a dangerous place still.

For a while, the only sound in the room was that of Bendy’s breathing. That sound still worried Henry.

“I’ll help you. Don’t worry.”

He had to find some way. Bendy needed his help. So did Boris. So did all the others. Sammy’s insanity and his violent outburst earlier, Norman’s mindless aggression, and Alice... Susie used to be so kind. This all had to be Joey’s doing. Henry had to help them, too.

Joey... what had happened to him, anyway? Henry wasn’t sure he wanted to know. He didn’t want to think about Joey now. It was probably for the best that he hadn’t encountered him yet.

“I’ll find a way.”

There wasn’t much to lose at this point, was there? Maybe, just maybe...

No. Dark magic was not the answer. Henry was not going to resort to that.

But... what more could go wrong, really? Surely one of the worst possible outcomes would be that everything stayed the same. On the other hand, everything could go back to normal. His old coworkers, his old friends, they could return to their normal human selves. Ink blotches would stop attacking anyone who came near. Bendy and Alice... would they return to their ‘normal’ cartoon selves, like Boris? Henry wasn’t sure what exactly would happen to them, but Bendy had come to him for help. It was what he wanted, what he needed.

“I know what to do. You’ll be free soon. I promise.”

Wait, what was he saying? He couldn’t do this! He couldn’t, but...

He had to.

Henry yawned. It was late; he needed to sleep. He was going to ask Bendy to get up so he could go to bed, but, noticing that the demon had fallen asleep already, he decided against it. He looked so peaceful in his sleep. Henry could sleep on the chair tonight. He didn’t want to disturb the sleeping demon.


	3. Chapter 3

This was it.

This was the big day. It was the day this chaos, this hell, would be reversed. It was the day everyone would be freed from their terrible fate. It was the day of long-awaited salvation.

It was Henry’s last day.

In the ritual room, the same room where he had nearly been sacrificed once before, Henry was tied to a chair in the center of a pentagram. He didn’t think the ropes were necessary, but Alice had tied him up at Sammy’s direction, in case he changed his mind.

Boris and Bendy clung to Henry, nearly suffocating him between the two of them. He could tell they were afraid. They didn’t want to lose him; of course they didn’t.

But this was for their own good.

“Back off, both of you,” demanded Alice, ever impatient. “Don’t hold this up. We _need_ to kill him. Just think - I’ll be free, I’ll be beautiful again - I’ll be perfect! And you... well, keep out of the way if you know what’s best for you. I won’t let anyone stand in the way of my chance at freedom.”

Boris backed away. Bendy did not.

“Bendy...” Henry began. “You have to let me go. I’m doing this for you.”

He didn’t want to do this, either, but he knew it was what he had to do. Bendy reluctantly let go of him and stepped back.

“Henry, are you ready to begin the ritual?” Sammy asked.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

Sammy recited the script of the ritual. It was all going to be over soon.

_“Sheep, sheep, sheep,_  
_It’s time for sleep.”_

He was doing this for Bendy, for Boris.

_“Rest your head,_   
_It’s time for bed.”_

For Sammy.

_“In the morning,_   
_You may wake.”_

For Norman.

_“Or in the morning,_   
_You’ll be dead.”_

For Susie, for Alice.

“Bendy, my lord, if you will do the honors and claim this sheep.”

Bendy shook his head, not willing to take the life of his creator. Sammy, still wearing the mask that obscured his vision, didn’t see Bendy’s refusal.

“I’ll do it,” said Alice. “Wait for me, and don’t untie him. I’ll be right back.” She left.

The interruption of the ritual gave Henry enough time to come to his senses and realize the insanity of this all. What on earth was he thinking? He didn’t even know if the ritual would work! For all he knew, it could just end up making everything worse; he couldn’t give his life for that!

“Untie me.”

At that moment, Alice returned, carrying the tommy gun. It was too late now, wasn’t it?

“Start the ritual again,” she ordered, holding the gun to Henry’s head. Sammy complied.

_“Sheep, sheep, sheep,_   
_It’s time for sleep.”_

This was a mistake.

_“Rest your head,_   
_It’s time for bed.”_

He couldn’t go through with this.

_“In the morning,_   
_You may wake.”_

The ropes were too tight. Henry couldn’t free himself.

_“Or in the morning,_   
_You’ll be dead.”_

Rapid-fire of the machine gun. Everything went black.


	4. Chapter 4

Henry awoke with a splitting headache. He’d been... no, he hadn’t been shot. He’d dreamt that. He wouldn’t have survived that. He couldn’t have.

Why did his head hurt so much?

There was chatter of people nearby. Where was he?

He opened his eyes. The light hurt.

“Henry’s awake!” someone shouted.

He didn’t want the attention right now. He wanted to go back to sleep.

“Henry, can you hear me? Are you alright?”

If Henry didn’t respond, maybe he would leave him alone.

“Henry?”

Why was he being so persistent?

“I’m fine...” Henry muttered. “Leave me alone.”

“You nearly died back there. I’m not leaving you until I know you’re okay.”

Nonsense. He wasn’t dying. He just had a headache.

The rest of what happened while Henry was still awake was a blur. The person kept talking to him. Others checked on him here and there, asking him questions to keep him conscious and calling his name whenever he started to drift off. He didn’t know why they all seemed so concerned. He wasn’t even sure who these people were. Most of the faces and voices seemed vaguely familiar, but he wasn’t able to recognize them in his disoriented and half-conscious state.

After who knows how long of what felt like constant questions and unwanted attention - he really had no sense of how much time had passed - he finally fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Henry woke up again later, feeling refreshed and much better. For some reason, he was on a couch in the Heavenly Toys lobby. Why had he fallen asleep here? Even more surprising was that there were other humans around. They looked familiar... but what were they doing here? How had they even gotten into the studio?

Then it clicked as he remembered the events of that morning. The ritual, the sacrifice... it had actually worked? That was amazing! But how had he survived?

He put a hand up to the side of his head where he remembered being shot. There was no wound, no pain, nothing. It was as if it hadn’t even happened - but it had, hadn’t it? The curse had been broken, so he must have been killed, right?

Was he... was he even alive right now?

“Heya Henry!” The grinning little demon jumped up onto Henry, instantly shattering any doubts that he was alive. “About time ya woke up, you’ve been sleepin’ all afternoon!”

“Bendy, what happened to you?” Henry chuckled and smiled. Bendy looked just like he did in the cartoons - small and chubby, wide grin, pie-cut eyes, bowtie in place and straightened, and a head that somehow acted connected to his body despite no visible attachment. He didn’t look like a monster anymore; he’d become a real-life cartoon character - and a talking one, at that! “And since when could you talk?”

“Whaddaya think happened?”

“Right,” he replied. That was pretty obvious. He patted the demon’s head and sat up. Someone approached him. The man, who looked about Henry’s age, had gray hair that was neatly tied back and a face that, despite his age, looked so familiar from long ago. Who he was, Henry couldn’t recall, but he was sure he knew him...

“How are you feeling, Henry?” He recognized that voice straight away.

“Sammy, is that you?” He’d gotten so used to the ink and the mask that he almost couldn’t believe this person was Sammy.

“Same answer as the last time you asked.”

“What?” Henry gave him a quizzical look. This was the first time he’d seen Sammy as a human in over thirty years, and he’d still been made of ink just that morning.

“You were awake earlier. We talked for twenty minutes.”

“Oh, right,” Henry answered. He did have some vague recollection of someone talking to him earlier, maybe multiple people, but he remembered almost nothing of it.

“I’m not surprised if you don’t remember. You were barely conscious for most of it.”

“What happened?” Henry asked. “How am I alive?”

“That’s a good question,” said Sammy.

“You were dead!” Bendy interjected. “And now you’re not.” He stated it so matter-of-factly, but Henry could hear the undertone of fear in his voice. He must have gotten pretty frightened by Henry’s apparent death.

“Sorry for scaring you like that,” Henry apologized, hugging the little demon on his lap.

“I wasn’t scared!”

“Sure, whatever you say.”

“Anyway,” Sammy continued after Bendy was done interrupting. “None of us know how you’re alive. My best guess is it’s for the same reason I’m human again.”

“Makes sense,” Henry replied. Okay, so it didn’t make sense, but neither did the rest of this. He could accept that it was some weird result of the ritual. Being saved from death was less drastic than the changes that happened to everyone else, after all.

“Thank you for that, by the way,” Sammy added, a rare expression of his gratitude.

“Henry!” That was a voice Henry didn’t want to hear. It was Joey Drew, his former friend who’d made the unforgivable mistake. “It’s great to see you!”

“Hey, you leave him alone!” Bendy stood up and exclaimed suddenly.

“Now, Bendy,” the old, wheelchair-bound man began. “I’m just trying to talk to an old friend.” He gave one of his signature smiles, the kind that gave the illusion of warmth but was entirely superficial.

“I know what you did, Joey,” said Henry, holding his ground.

“Funny you should say that,” Joey replied. “I don’t know a thing.”

Was he lying? Was he seriously trying to lie about this?

“Yeah? Well I do!” Bendy interrupted. “And I’m the one who got stuck with your stupid leg! How come ya don’t even remember me, huh? I remember bein’ stuck with _you!_”

“Bendy, you were...” Henry couldn’t believe it. Alice and Susie being the same person was understandable, but Bendy and Joey? That couldn’t be true! Bendy was, well, he was Bendy. He was playful, mischievous, friendly, sweet - he was so much like his counterpart from the cartoons, even when he didn’t look like it. Joey was just... so different. Too different.

This wasn’t even like the case with Alice, who still held past grudges which Susie had held despite the huge difference in behavior, and who Susie had felt a personal connection with before becoming a part of her. There was reason to see them as the same, but not Bendy and Joey. They couldn’t have been the same person.

“You’re saying you were Joey?”

“What? Of course not!” Bendy sounded positively offended. “I was _with_ Joey. And he doesn’t remember any of it! Can you believe it?”

“What do you mean ‘with’?” Henry asked, confused.

“Look, here’s what happened: Joey here decided one day he was gonna use magic to bring us cartoons to life, okay? I dunno what he did, but somethin’ went all wrong, whatever he did. That’s where I come in. Me an’ Alice an’ Boris, we got created like he wanted, but somehow each of us got fused with someone who worked here. And _I’m_ the unlucky one who ended up with Joey.”

“How do you know you were with Joey?” Henry asked.

“Uh, remember, the leg?”

“That’s it?” He never...” Henry struggled to find the right words to express the thought. “Hewas never... you?” That wasn’t very clear, but hopefully Bendy would understand.

“Are ya askin’ if he was ever controllin’ me and doin’ stuff like Susie did with Alice?” Bendy asked.

“Yeah, that.”

“Don’t think so.” That was a relief. If Joey had been the object of the fatherly affection Henry felt toward Bendy, that would have been plain wrong, for so many reasons.

As the afternoon continued, Henry took the time to reacquaint himself with his old coworkers and get to know the toons’ true selves. Bendy and Boris hadn’t changed at all, besides gaining voices. Boris still remained mostly quiet though friendly, but Bendy proved himself to be quite the talkative little fellow. Now that he could speak, he couldn’t get enough of it.

Alice had completely lost her malicious personality, and she and Susie both apologized profusely to Henry and promised to make amends for how they’d treated him up until now. They both took the blame for their actions and seemed to have no concept of who did what between them - they felt as if they’d been one person for thirty years who’d suddenly been split into two today.

Sammy was still Sammy, of course. Henry had already seen that he’d remained more or less himself even as an ink creature; the only difference now was, well, sane. Mostly sane, at least. Sane enough that he now saw worshipping a cartoon demon as an absurd and ridiculous thing he’d rather forget entirely.

Henry had, admittedly, never known Grant Cohen or Thomas Connor very well, and he wasn’t sure how they’d even ended up here, but it was good to see that they seemed alright. Both of them remembered little of what had happened, but, fortunately, they both appeared to be relatively normal and well-adjusted, at least as far as Henry could tell.

Unfortunately, not everyone had come out of this okay.

Norman - or “projector-head guy”, as Henry had repeatedly had to tell Bendy to stop calling him - seemed to be incapable of talking about anything but the cartoons. Steering a conversation with him to any other topic was impossible; he would always relate it back to some episode of the old cartoons. Thirty years of being what was practically a living projector had committed to his memory every detail of every episode, but it had also apparently left his mind permanently fixated on said cartoons.

Shawn Flynn, who Henry had never met until now, was an absolute nervous wreck. After hearing that Henry was the one who’d broken the curse, he came to him to introduce himself and thank him, but he was very clearly not okay. He kept a fair distance between himself and Henry and couldn’t maintain eye contact. He constantly stuttered and tripped over his words. He flinched when they shook hands and jumped at every movement Henry made. He seemed thoroughly traumatized.

However... Henry couldn’t help but notice that he acted just fine around anyone else. He didn’t know who or what Shawn had been transformed into, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he must have harmed him terribly at some point. He’d definitely have to apologize for that after Shawn had had time to recover from the experience.

Then there was Wally Franks. As a janitor, he’d been a fairly insignificant employee, but Henry couldn’t forget him. He’d been quite the colorful character back in the day. He was notorious for the way he always spoke his mind so freely. He had a tendency to say the things that everyone was thinking but no one dared to admit - or, sometimes, the things that no one else was thinking and no one wanted to hear. He was liked by a few and considered obnoxious by most. Henry had thought he was an alright guy back when he worked at the studio.

He wasn’t speaking his mind now, though. In fact, he wasn’t speaking at all. No one had been able to get a word out of him all day. He’d remained worryingly silent the entire time. Only two things about him were certain: One, he wouldn’t - or perhaps _couldn’t_ \- speak to anyone. Two, he was absolutely terrified of Alice for some inexplicable reason.

Something was very, very wrong with him - with all three of them.


	6. Chapter 6

As the day stretched on, people gradually began to leave, returning to pick up the pieces of the lives they’d been forced to abandon thirty long years ago. Grant and Thomas returned home to their families. Susie didn’t have a home to return to but said she could find a relative to stay with until she found a new job and could support herself again, and Alice, feeling that they were practically the same person and not wanting to part with her, went with her. Sammy also had nowhere to go but left anyway, saying that anywhere was better than staying here. Shawn, agreeing with his mentality and not knowing where to go, had followed him out of the studio, even though Sammy seemed a bit annoyed at having someone tag along. Wally was... somewhere, hopefully safe. He was one of the first to leave, and no one knew where he’d gone.

Joey, who had seemingly no intention of leaving, talked instead about re-opening his studio. The only people who hadn’t explicitly declined his offer to work for him again were Wally, who had looked at him indignantly but remained silent, and Norman, whose chatter about the cartoons Joey had interpreted as interest.

“Listen, Henry, we can make it big again. Even bigger than before!”

“For the last time, Joey, I’m not interested.”

“Don’t you remember the good old days? Don’t you want to go back to then?”

Typical Joey, persistent as always.

“Yes, I remember, and I remember why I quit.”

“That was years ago! Times have changed, and I guarantee you that our studio will be better than ever this time!”

“_Your_ studio,” Henry corrected. “I don’t want any part in this.”

“Not just my studio, Henry - _our_ studio. You and me, making cartoons together, just like before. What do you say?”

“No.”

“Come on, you know you want to.”

“No, I don’t.”

Their argument dragged on for ages, Henry firmly refusing while Joey tried his best to persuade him. It seemed as if he would never stop. Their quarrel continued until Joey suddenly asked the big question that had gone unanswered as of yet:

“Why did you come back here?”

That was a good question. Henry wasn’t entirely sure himself why he was here.

“I got your letter,” Henry answered. “I figured it wouldn’t hurt to visit. I hadn’t seen you or been here in so long.”

“What letter?” Joey asked.

“The one you sent me. You told me to come visit the studio if I was in town. You said you had something to show me.”

“I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about,” Joey replied. Even though Joey was known to lie when it suited him, Henry had a feeling he was telling the truth about this, and not just because he sounded sincere. Joey had been, well, not Joey for the past thirty years, but Henry had received a letter from ‘Joey Drew’ about half a year ago, give or take a couple months. According to Bendy, Joey had been fused with him - Henry still hated that awful thought - for that entire time, but seemed to more or less... not exist, for lack of better words. Bendy had denied that Joey had, at any point since the ‘accident’, acted as Joey. Bendy’s form hadn’t exactly been stable then, either; he got ink on everything he touched. That letter hadn’t been covered in ink; Joey couldn’t have written it as Bendy or forced Bendy to write it somehow.

Who had sent the letter, then?

Maybe it was best not to ask. Joey wouldn’t know anyway.

“Never mind, then. Someone sent me a letter in your name. That’s why I came back.”

“Why would someone do that?”

As if Henry had the answer to that question.

“Someone wanted me here. That’s all I’ve got.”

“You answered the letter because you missed me.” Joey smirked.

Henry wasn’t going to lie; that had been the main reason why he returned. Why did Joey have to pick up on that now?

“I did,” said Henry. “Until I found out what you did.”

“And what would that be?”

Joey had a real talent for being infuriating while maintaining an act of innocence.

“You know what I’m talking about.”

“Can’t say I do.”

An obvious lie. He didn’t sound sincere. He didn’t look sincere. The smug grin on his face was enough to tell Henry that he was just seeing how far he could go with this. Henry knew that look and this game far too well.

“You do know. Stop lying.”

“What am I lying about?”

“You said you don’t know what you did.”

This was going to be one frustrating conversation.

“Sounds to me like you don’t know what you said.”

“What?”

“You said I did something, and I asked you which thing you were referring to. Now you’re trying to tell me I don’t know what I did, when I never said that.”

“Joey, stop this.” Henry was quickly losing his patience. Joey was just talking in circles at this point and avoiding the issue.

“I’ve done a lot of things, and I’m not denying any of them. I just don’t know which thing you’re talking about. So, tell me, which thing that I did is such a problem to you?”

“You know what it is. The dark magic. The curse. The ink monsters and the living cartoons. _That_ thing.”

“That, yes, I did do that.”

Finally, he acknowledged it.

“What was so wrong about that?”

That did it. He’d gone too far now.

“What’s so wrong about it?” Henry echoed contemptuously. “What’s so wrong? What do you think is wrong with it?! You turned people into monsters! People who trusted you! People I cared about! You ruined their lives, Joey, do you realize that? You ruined their lives, and why? Because you wanted to bring some cartoon characters to life? You even ruined _their_ lives from the moment you created them! Bendy was suffering! Boris was terrified! Alice was heartless! You don’t see the problem with that? You don’t see the problem with what I almost _died_ to fix?! And, even now, not everyone’s okay! Look at Norman, or Wally, or- or, what’s his name, the toymaker! They’re not okay! And everyone else, they’ve lost thirty years of their lives because of you!”

Joey just laughed.

“All this time, and you still haven’t learned to control your temper. I would’ve thought you’d be more mature by now.”

Henry had seen this coming; why had he let himself fall for it again? Joey had always known how to anger him, and he’d always enjoyed making him riled up like it was some game. And now he was berating him for his ‘temper’.

As if he _ever_ lost his temper at anyone but Joey.

“I’m through. I’m going home.” Henry began to walk away.

“Henry, wait, in all seriousness-”

“I don’t care. Goodbye.”

“It was an accident. I feel terrible about it.”

Henry stopped. Was Joey being honest?

“Why?”

“I didn’t know this would happen. I didn’t know it could go wrong. When I learned I could use magic to bring cartoons to life... well, it sounded like a great idea. I didn’t expect this, and I’m sorry. I truly am. I made a terrible mistake, and I regret it more than anything.”

Henry wanted to believe Joey was lying. He needed to be able to hold this against him to justify the bitterness he felt.

But Joey wasn’t lying. Even Henry could see that. There were no fabricated excuses, no blatant attempts to justify what he did wrong, no defensiveness, just... shame. Shame and remorse. He didn’t get defensive when he denied foreseeing the consequences; he was open about it. He owned up to his shortsightedness and the mistakes it had caused, and he had apologized. Such sincere apologies were rare coming from Joey Drew, but Henry knew Joey’s sincerity when he heard it.

“Don’t do _anything_ like this again,” was all Henry could say.

“Believe me,” Joey answered. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”


	7. Chapter 7

Henry, of course, had to return home eventually. Nearly everyone else was long gone by now.

“You’re leaving?” Bendy and Boris asked in unison.

“Sorry, guys, I have to,” Henry told them. “I have a family waiting for me.”

“But you live here!” Bendy exclaimed. “You can’t leave!”

“I’m sorry, I really can’t stay here.”

“We’re gonna miss you, Henry,” said Boris sadly, giving Henry a hug. Henry smiled.

“I’m not leaving you. I’ll come back to visit.”

Bendy still wasn’t satisfied with this.

“No, you’re not gonna visit!” He stood in front of the door with his arms stretched out, as if that would somehow prevent Henry from leaving. “You’re stayin’ here!”

Henry thought for a moment about how he could make this easier on Bendy. He could just leave, but he didn’t want to upset him by doing so, and him having to go home was something the demon clearly didn’t understand.

Then he got a better idea.

“C’mon, kiddo,” he said, picking the little demon up like a small child. “I won’t leave you. I’ll take you home with me. You too, Boris.”

“Hey!” Bendy shouted, squirming in Henry’s arms. “Why’re ya callin’ me a kid? An’ put me down!”

“Sorry, Bendy,” Henry apologized, putting him back on the ground. He hadn’t even noticed at the time that he’d called him ‘kiddo’. He was really becoming more of a dad to Bendy than he’d realized, huh?

“Pick me up again. I don’t wanna walk home.”

So fickle. Henry picked up his spoiled brat of a creation once more, and the trio headed home together.

Henry sure had a lot to explain to his wife when he got home.


	8. Bonus Chapters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These scenes take place while Henry is unconscious/semi-conscious. However, I felt the POV switch was a bit jarring to the narrative, so I've stuck this at the end as a bonus instead.

Alice pulled herself up from the puddle of ink she’d collapsed into. The room around her came into focus... humans? What were they doing here?

Oh, that was right, the ritual, Henry’s sacrifice... Henry! Boris was weeping and clutching his lifeless body, slumped over in the chair he was still tied to.

Alice felt something she had never felt before: she felt remorse. Since he’d arrived, she’d treated him nothing but cruelly. She’d repeatedly put him through danger for her own selfish wishes. She’d done so because, in her corrupted state, she’d enjoyed having power over him and making him suffer. She’d even been the one to bring him here in the first place, for that very reason, with a letter she’d sent him in Joey’s name. Yet, now, after all the terrible things she’d done, he’d willingly given his life to break the curse, and she’d been the one to take it from him. And, when humans died... that was permanent, wasn’t it? He wasn’t coming back, ever. He couldn’t. He was gone now.

“Henry...” she said as she approached him. Boris ran when he noticed her. “Boris, I won’t-” Too late. The wolf had already fled the room. Alice turned her attention back to Henry. She threw her arms around him, sobbing as she was overwhelmed with guilt. “I’m so sorry, Henry... I wish- I wish I could make things right... y-you didn’t deserve- you never deserved this...” Her loud sobs filled the otherwise-quiet room - until she noticed something amazing.

He was breathing. He was alive!

Alice untied the ropes restraining him - not the smartest of ideas. Unconscious and without restraint, he fell forward. Alice quickly ran in front of him to support him and keep him from falling, but she severely underestimated how much a human weighed and found herself knocked to the floor underneath him. She crawled out from under him and tried to lift him back onto the chair, but he was too heavy.

“Ngh... what happened?” came a voice from somewhere behind her. “Huh? I can- hey, what gives! Why am I so short? This ain’t fair! How come- Henry!” The little demon - who was now barely more than half Alice’s size - ran over to his fallen creator. “Henry...” he said, inky tears falling down his face.

Alice wasn’t sure why, but it hurt to see Bendy so sad. No longer affected by the curse, she didn’t despise him anymore. She could even say she... she cared about him, perhaps. She didn’t want to see him or anyone else suffer anymore.

“He’s alive,” she said, placing her hand on Bendy’s shoulder to comfort him. “He’s only asleep.”

“He is? But he...” He looked at Alice in confusion for a moment, then looked back to Henry. “Henry! C’mon, wake up!” No response. “Please...” he pleaded, his voice cracking as he began to cry again. “Please, Henry, y’can’t die...”

Alice couldn’t bear to see him so upset. She pulled him into a hug.

“Hey! Lemme go!” he protested, struggling to break free from her hold on him. She held him tighter. “I said let go!”

Alice just giggled. Bendy had once had power over her, but now his small size relegated him to the position of annoying little brother. And, like any big sister, she was going to enjoy playfully tormenting him.

“I’m not letting you go until you stop being sad,” Alice said teasingly. “So cheer up if you wanna stop being my prisoner.”

“No fair! You’re bigger than me! If I was still tall, I’d-” He broke off his sentence, getting an idea. He suddenly melted down into a puddle of ink - which, obviously, Alice couldn’t hold onto. Then, without warning, he snatched her halo from behind her.

“Bendy!” she shouted. “Give it back!”

“Ya gotta catch me first!” he told her, running off with Alice chasing after him.

The two cartoons continued teasing each other for some time, occasionally breaking into fits of giggling. They were both having a lot of fun, even when they pretended to act annoyed. Their antics provided a good distraction from the current situation while the humans around them slept.

After a while, their fun was interrupted by a man’s voice:

“The hell is this?”

Alice looked to the source of the voice to see who had spoken. The man was sitting up, holding a large Bendy mask in his hands and looking down at it in contempt. He had to be Sammy Lawrence. Alice walked up to him.

“Sammy, are you okay?” she asked.

“Susie?” he replied. “You look so different...”

‘Susie’ was a name Alice had grown accustomed to. Sammy had always refused to call her by any other name. Never ‘Alice’, always ‘Susie’ - he’d even referred to her as ‘Susie Lawrence’ on a few occasions. That last one had been her least favorite by far; while she’d hated being called by any name other than ‘Alice’, ‘Susie Campbell’ would have been far better than ‘Susie Lawrence’.

Now, however, the name didn’t bother her. Maybe it had been because she’d been fused with Susie, or because of the corruption, or perhaps both, but whatever had caused her to hate Susie’s human name was gone. Now, it just... she didn’t dislike it; it just wasn’t her name.

“Alice,” she politely corrected him. “Alice Angel. Susie’s over there.” She pointed to Susie, who was still lying unconscious on the floor. “She’s alive, don’t worry. So is Henry, and everyone else, I think. They should be okay.”

“Henry’s alive?” he asked in surprise. “That’s- that’s wonderful! But, Susie...” He got up to go sit by Susie’s side. Alice followed. “Susie, dear...”

“She’ll be alright,” Alice assured him, hoping her prediction was true. She really did hope Susie was going to be okay. Susie had been a part of her for her whole life up until now - or perhaps she had been a part of Susie; there was no telling one from the other when they were fused. They were practically the same person, weren’t they?

Alice looked at Susie, whose head was resting on Sammy’s lap. He was stroking her hair gently, speaking all sorts of apologies, telling her how much he loved her and cared for her... this was a side of Sammy that Alice had never seen. She knew him as the man who’d replaced her, who’d betrayed her, who’d ruined her - or, rather, he’d done that to Susie, as Alice herself hadn’t come into the picture until later.

The Sammy she saw now seemed so sweet and caring. Had he been like this in the past? Alice didn’t know; any good memories Susie had had of him had been blocked out by the grudge that had consumed them.

How would Susie react if she woke up now? Would she appreciate him treating her so kindly, or would she still be unwilling to forgive him for the past?

“Sammy...?” Susie slowly opened her eyes. Sammy pulled his hand away from her.

“I’m sorry, Susie.”

“For what?”

“I know you don’t want me around anymore.”

There was a short pause, and then Susie suddenly burst out laughing.

“What? You think I don’t want to see you? Sammy, you’re hilarious!” She threw her arms around him in a hug, still laughing uncontrollably. Sammy looked to be at a loss for how to react. When she’d calmed down a bit, she continued: “Listen, I know I haven’t been kind to you - or anyone - since, well, the incident... what Joey did... and maybe I acted like I hated you...”

“That wasn’t your fault,” Sammy assured her, returning the hug and holding her close. “None of us were ourselves then.” There was another pause. “But, before then...”

“That was thirty years ago,” she reminded him. “I’m not mad anymore.” Sammy looked genuinely surprised.

“You aren’t? But you said-”

“Forget about what I said!” she said, cutting him off. “It’s been thirty years! We can move on.” She gave him a smile, but he didn’t seem so assured.

Alice trusted that Susie meant it, but she couldn’t blame Sammy for not giving her that same trust. She knew how they had last parted as humans. It had ended spectacularly badly, with Susie screaming at Sammy that she never wanted to see him again, moving out and swearing never to return. That was just days after losing her voice acting role. Alice didn’t even want to think about it; even though it had been Susie, not her, it felt to her almost as if it was her own memory, as if she was the one who had acted in such an explosive way. It wasn’t a good feeling at all.

“Susie?” Alice said during the silence that fell, catching the attention of the woman who had so far only noticed Sammy with her.

“Alice?” Susie looked stunned for a moment, but then a huge smile broke out across her face. “Alice! Look at you! You look amazing!”

Alice had been too preoccupied until now to notice how much her form had changed. She knew she was shorter, of course - although she hadn’t become nearly as small as Bendy had, she had lost a foot and a half, maybe more, and her short height was pretty noticeable when she stood up. Her halo wasn’t lodged into her head anymore; she’d realized that when Bendy had stolen it from her.

So what else had changed? She looked down at herself - at her hands, which now had white gloves and holes in her palms, just like in the posters and the cartoons; at the black sleeves of her gloves, no longer smudged and melded with her white arms; at her dress, still pretty; at her arms and legs, her proportions cartoon-like and less realistic.

“I do, don’t I?” She exclaimed, overjoyed at her new appearance. She really had changed more than she’d realized. There was one part of herself she couldn’t see, though, and it had been the most appalling aspect of her appearance when she was still deformed...

“How’s my face?” she asked.

“Perfect,” Susie answered with a smile.

“Just like in the cartoons?”

“Exactly like the cartoons.”

~

One by one, the other humans woke up. Alice didn’t recognize most of them, but she figured they all must have been there as some kind of ink creatures for just as long as she had. Regretting how heartless she had been to everyone and everything, she felt the need to make sure everyone was okay and do what she could to make things right. She’d surely caused harm to most, if not all, of them, she felt responsible for finding a way to make it up to them.

Problem was, not only had she harmed them in the past, she was also still recognizable, and some people were afraid of her. Apologizing to everyone and making amends turned out to be harder than she’d expected.

“I-It’s Alice...”

Overhearing her name, she looked to see who had spoken. It was one of the men she didn’t recognize, pointing her out to another she also didn’t know. They were both clearly scared of her, visibly shaking in fear as they kept their gazes fixed on her.

Who were they, and what had she done to them? She looked away, pretending not to notice, hoping to put them at ease a little, but she continued listening to their hushed conversation.

“She’s not lookin’ at us anymore... d’you think we’re safe fer now?”

The one talking had an interesting voice; his accent was different from the others’. Having spent her whole life confined to the abandoned studio, having contact with only a few others and little knowledge of the outside world, Alice had no idea where his accent was from. She liked it, though.

“You don’t have t’ be so silent. Talk quiet enough, and she won’t be hearin’ ya.”

She could hear them, though. She wanted to tell them she wouldn’t hurt them.

“You’re scarin’ me, Wally, really now... you’re never this quiet. Say somethin’, will ya?”

Why wasn’t the other one speaking? Was he too scared? Alice looked toward them again, hoping to assure them of her benevolence.

“I won’t hurt you,” she said. “I only want to help. Are you okay?”

Neither one responded. Their reaction was the same as before, the two of them frozen and trembling in fear, watching her intently for any move she might make.

“I’m not a monster anymore, see? I’m just an angel now.”

That statement didn’t reassure them at all, even though she’d hoped it would. She didn’t want anyone to fear her, not anymore. How could she convince them she was harmless?

“There’s no need to be afraid of me. I’m not gonna do anything bad, okay?”

She made the mistake of taking a step toward them. They immediately bolted in opposite directions. The quiet one - Wally, the other had called him - not looking where he was going, tripped right over Henry, who was still unconscious. He crashed to the floor, startling Bendy, who darted under the chair.

“Are you alright?” asked Alice, offering her hand to help Wally up. He didn’t react, he didn’t move, he just stared at her like a deer caught in the headlights. “You aren’t hurt, are you?” Still no response. “Wally - is that your name?”

Being directly addressed by Alice sent Wally into a panic again. In an instant, he got back on his feet and ran off somewhere out of sight. Alice felt bad about scaring him so badly, but at least he didn’t seem hurt.

Speaking of not being hurt, Henry still hadn’t woken up yet. Everyone else was awake now, except for him, and Alice was growing worried - but he was going to wake up, wasn’t he? She hoped so. He didn’t deserve this, any of this. He wasn’t even supposed to have come in the first place.

If Alice had been the one to take his place - if someone who wasn’t human could have even worked as the sacrifice - she could understand. She deserved it for how cruelly she had treated him and everyone else. It would have been a final act of redemption to make right what she’d done wrong.

But Henry? He hadn’t done anything wrong, and yet she hadn’t felt the slightest ounce of guilt in the moment she’d supposedly killed him. Remembering that, remembering when she’d shot the man who’d changed his mind at the last minute, who had been clearly struggling to free himself - who she’d even been completely prepared to kill before the completion of the ritual if needed, just to prevent his escape - it made her feel so much worse.

How could she have been so heartless?

“Alice?” Bendy came out from the chair he’d hidden under. “You don’t hafta cry... he’ll wake up...” He sounded very uncertain of what he was saying. He was doubting whether Henry would be okay, too, wasn’t he?

“I’m so sorry...” she said. “I did this to him, it’s my fault, I-”

“This is _Joey’s_ fault.”

Alice couldn’t argue with that. The curse was Joey’s fault, and even the way she had acted was due to that. If Joey hadn’t done what he did so many years ago, Henry wouldn’t have had to give his life to fix it.

The two watched Henry for awhile, hoping desperately for some sign of consciousness, but he still did not come to.

~

In the lobby of Heavenly Toys, time continued to pass by. The couches here were much more comfortable than the floor or the hard wooden chairs around the studio, which was why Sammy had brought Henry there to recover. The others had accompanied them, except for Boris and the two humans who had fled upon seeing Alice, though the three eventually turned up on their own later. Even Joey had come along, despite Sammy trying to tell him otherwise with some rather harsh words.

Bendy was still watching Henry, refusing to take his eyes off of him until he woke up. Alice, knowing that wouldn’t do her any good, was chatting with Susie to pass the time, listening intently to stories about the outside world.

“So, before you came here, you used to work at a diner? What was that like?”

“Yeah, that was... it was so long ago, when was that? I got the job there in nineteen-twenty... eight? ‘27 or ‘28, I think.”

“That’s so long ago!” Alice knew that Susie was nearly twice her age, of course, but hearing her talk of the 20s surprised her nonetheless. Alice herself hadn’t come about until 1940, and the thought that Susie - who was basically her - had lived so much of her life before then was a strange thought to her.

“It is, isn’t it? Like an entire lifetime ago! Anyway, as I was saying, I got a job as a waitress there-”

“The diner, what was it like?” Alice had an idea of what a diner was - some sort of place where people went to eat - but she was curious to hear about what it was like from someone who’d been to one. “I’ve never been in a diner before.” Susie chuckled at Alice’s naïveté when it came to seemingly basic knowledge of the world outside of the studio.

“Oh, that? Well, it’s...” Susie went on to explain what the diner was like, answering Alice’s curious questions as she asked them. For awhile, she talked about various places Alice asked about - parks, libraries, theaters, even her own home. Alice was fascinated by Susie’s descriptions of the places that existed in the world.

“After we leave here, can you show me these places?”

Before Susie could answer, Bendy’s loud exclamation interrupted and caught the attention of everyone in the room:

“Henry’s awake!”

That was fantastic news! Alice went to check on him right away; she and Susie could talk later. Bendy was waiting rather impatiently for an opportunity to speak to Henry himself while Sammy made sure he was okay.

He didn’t seem too okay, however.

“I’m not leaving you until I know you’re okay,” Sammy said to him.

“I don’ know you, go ‘way.”

“Henry, it’s me, Sammy. Sammy Lawrence.”

“Sammy...?” Henry asked him, seemingly confused.

“Yes. I’m your friend, remember?”

“No no no, you’re not Sammy, Sammy is... he’s got that, that mask thing.” Alice had to listen closely to understand Henry’s semi-coherent mumbling. “Looks like the, the, the cartoon face.”

This was worrying. Even though Henry was awake, he seemed very out of it and wasn’t speaking at all clearly. None of the others had woken up this disoriented, at least not for this long.

“It’s still me, Henry,” Sammy informed him. “I’m still Sammy. I’m just not wearing the mask.”

“You’re not Sammy,” Henry insisted. “Now stop talkin’ ‘n go ‘way. I wanna sleep.”

“Hey, Henry!” Bendy interrupted, standing on Henry’s chest and looking down at his face. Henry didn’t bother trying to make eye contact. “Ya recognize me, don’tcha?” Henry took a quick look at Bendy, then answered him.

No idea, leave me alone.” Bendy was shocked.

“Don’t tell me ya forgot me! Y’know, Bendy? The Dancing Demon? The Little Devil Darlin’? C’mon, you know me!”

“Bendy’s, Bendy’s-” Henry lazily held up his hand to give an indication of height. “He’s tall. You’re not him, you’re little.” He seemed to be entirely unaware of the demon’s distress.

“But I’m still me! I jus’ look different, that’s all!”

“Come on,” said Alice, picking up the exasperated Bendy and carrying him away from his creator. She didn’t want him causing a scene. “He’ll be fine. He just needs more rest.” She wasn’t sure herself if this was true, but she had to calm him down somehow.

“Are you crazy?” he shouted, struggling to get down. It took considerable effort for Alice to hold onto him and keep him from running back to Henry. “He’s not fine! Listen to him! He doesn’t know anyone anymore!”

“Bendy, Bendy, calm down!” Alice was scared, too, but panicking like this was not going to help. “Just- just sit down, breathe-” She put him down. He ran off. Great. “Bendy, don’t-” He didn’t run to Henry, like she expected - he ran straight to Joey. This couldn’t end well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 8/6/19: Okay, I admit this is unfinished -- but I wrote this story over a year and a half ago. Maybe I'll finish this up someday, maybe not. For now, let your imagination fill in the rest. :)


End file.
